Tim Matherly Ready to Row Gears at NMRA Ford Gateway Rumble

Having collected several championships in the NMRA’s former Real Street category, Tim Matherly has come to be known as a mastermind behind the wheel of his Mustangs.

These days, he’s gunning for a championship in the series’ G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock category in the 2003 Mustang he purchased from Joe Charles. It features a Gen II Coyote engine with a JLT cold air kit, and Matherly, a mega fan of manual transmissions, rows gears with a G-Force G101A transmission and a Ram clutch.

The car rolls on UPR and Strange suspension components, Metco Motorsports lower control arms and Mickey Thompson slicks, and it has a Hooker BlackHeart exhaust system.

“I put Optic Armor windows in the front and rear of the car over winter,” said Matherly. “And, we recently went to drop spindles and lowered the car to get a lower center of gravity, and the car has responded well to that. It goes out instead of up when I leave the starting line, which is a good thing.”

Matherly, who owns MV Performance in Georgia, has had a successful start to the 2019 race season. He motored to a 10.20 in his Mustang to qualify in the third spot and went on to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle with a 10.28 at the season-opening 25th Annual Nitto NMRA Spring Break Shootout, Feb. 28-March 3 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.

“After the race in Florida, I serviced the car by looking at everything and putting a wrench on all of the suspension points and making sure that nothing would fall off,” said Matherly. “Actually, that’s pretty much what I do after every race, and sometimes I service the clutch. It’s a very low-maintenance car.”

He went on to a 10.24 to qualify in the third spot and made it to the semifinal before exiting eliminations with a 10.33 at the 11th Annual Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals presented by MAHLE, April 4-7 at Atlanta Dragway.

“I spend a lot of time each week talking with fellow racers about how to make our cars faster, and my crew chief, Jason Sloan, and my teammate, Jacob Lamb, and I were talking recently about how we have been chipping away at it and progressively moving up in the class, where the competition is so close,” said Matherly, who also has support from his wife, Lisa, son, Dawson, who recently made a pass down track in his own Mustang, and his daughter, Autumn, who’s on a traveling softball team coached by Matherly. “All of the puzzle pieces have to fit before you can get to the winner’s circle.”

Now, Matherly, who’s currently in second place in G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock points, is ready to try to keep that standing — or move up a notch — in his Mustang flying DiabloSport banners at the Inaugural NMRA Ford Gateway Rumble presented by HPJ Performance, May 16-19 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois.

“Fellow racer John Urist always says ‘Do work, son,’ and he’s right,” said Matherly. “That’s what it takes, and that’s what it will take this weekend.”